We haven’t seen nearly enough net-crashing from the Rangers, and we haven’t seen nearly enough of Will Cuylle in third periods since the calendar flipped to 2024 and probably earlier than that.
But lo and behold, good things happened for the Blueshirts when two good things happened at once midway through the third period in Anaheim on Sunday. That is when Cuylle, on for his third shift of the period, set up in front and redirected Jacob Trouba’s snapper past screened netminder Lukas Dostal.
The goal at 10:10 tied the match in which the club had trailed 2-0 and would win 5-2 to stanch the wounds inflicted by previous defeats in LA and Vegas on this trip that concludes Tuesday in San Jose.
It is also the type of battle-area goal that becomes prevalent and decisive in the playoffs, and which the Rangers do not score nearly often enough.
The Blueshirts are not physical or malevolent enough. It is not in their DNA. They are not big enough. They are not young enough up front in a young man’s league that becomes far more demanding once the tournament commences.
Indeed, Cuylle, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko are the only forwards on the current roster on the sunny side of 30. The Rangers could use an infusion of energy that young legs and hearts bring to the fray.
Cuylle, who will be 22 on Feb. 5, is 6-foot-4. He plays in straight lines. He arrives at the puck in ill humor. In the coach’s handbook next to the section about simplifying the game, there is a picture of No. 50. The freshman’s game has not wavered from Day 1. He represents items from Columns A, B and C that the club requires.
Yet, until Sunday night when he got 5:00 of ice time in the third period, Cuylle had been on for between 2:36 and 4:17 over the preceding five final periods. Crunch time has seen a lot of sitting time with head coach Peter Laviolette often opting to double-shift Artemi Panarin, and who wouldn’t when a game is on the line.
But it takes away from Cuylle — whose profile is as low-key as they come — and it changes the dynamic. Again, it is understandable. If you can heap time on Panarin — who has played to the level of a Hart Trophy finalist — then you do it. Every point in the standings is critical. The 18-4-1 start has allowed the club to maintain a nine-point playoff cushion. But the coaching staff cannot afford to be myopic. Creating upside in late April, May and June is the ultimate objective.
Cuylle averaged 12:33 of ice time in the first 16 games but has been around 2:00 below that at 10:46 over the following 30 contests. Of course, Cuylle was on Vincent Trocheck’s line the first 10 games before Chytil went down, No. 16 moved into his spot between Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere and the Blueshirts effectively (alternate meaning) began operating with two fourth lines. The winger, with 13 points (8-5), is expected to skate with Jonny Brodzinski and Blake Wheeler against the Sharks.
But Laviolette and assistant coach Michael Peca also took Cuylle off the second power play 21 games into the season. Now, PP2 gets precious enough time as it is with its components generally averaging between 0:55 and 1:29 while the PP1 guys get between 3:38 and 3:47. The second power-play unit has accounted for three of the club’s 41 goals with the man-advantage.
Cuylle was on for a sum of 15:44 on the power play over the first 26 games equating to an average of 47 seconds per game. But over the last 20 games, Cuylle has been on for a total of 10 seconds sprinkled over three matches. Not quite sure I get that when Cuylle perfectly fits the power-play profile.
This isn’t 1993-94, when the Rangers had a share of first-overall every day beginning Dec. 15 and were in as much a win-or-else mode as any team in pro sports history. If they had lost that epochal Game 6 at the Meadowlands, Mark Messier’s legacy in this town would be very different. The same applies to Mike Richter, who would likely be forever linked with Ron Francis and not Pavel Bure.
Ending 1940 meant trading 23-year-old Tony Amonte. It meant trading 20-year-old Todd Marchant. It meant, a year earlier, trading 22-year-old Doug Weight. It meant trading Mike Gartner. It meant trading youth and talent for veteran role players like Stephane Matteau, Esa Tikkanen, Craig McTavish and Glenn Anderson.
It would be folly for GM Chris Drury to follow in then-GM Neil Smith’s footsteps by trading the organization’s crown jewels for stopgap measures. But it is true that the Rangers need to bulk up. It is true that the club needs to add size, strength and straight-line mentality.
It is true that the Rangers could use another Cuylle or two. Might want to give the original more of an opportunity, too.
